Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-02-23

and lying reports are dated from Fort
keogh as Especial correspondents"
Here 10 one OF them In the CONNER
clal Gazette OF Pittsburg, dated Fort
Keogh, Feb. l3, 1887:
Montana freezing; sixty-two and O
half degrees below zero; cattle dying
by hundreds Of exposure; snow eight
feet deep on the level; starvation rap
idly extsrminating the Indins; coal
famine, $50 per ton and can hardly be
purchased"
Now II that special correspondent
would confine himself TO the truth, he
would say what he knows TO be true or
what he has heard from good reliable
Information. At all events, when he
Ii writing from Fort Keogh he should
confine himself TO his own vicinity.
for eastern people will hardly stop to
look at the map and see that Montana
is ~ large q, five New England states
put together. have not heard OF any
sixty-two and one-half degrees below
zero this winter In this vicinity. Sup.
posing hundreds OF cattle did die OF
exposure; that does not give an east
ern man, or anybody else. an idea of
the percentage Of loss in Montana.
We have had but eighteen inches of
snow on the level, III that much. A
TO the starvation Of Indians, they were
starving from want Of food, teing ref
ugees from Canada, nobody's wards,
and supp0sing such q numoer starved,
the winter should not be blamed for
that blessing.
As to the coal famine, coal In Miles
City has been selling at from 81 70 "a
per ton and any quantity can be
bought at that price; ranch men have
been able to procure II all winter
themselves, without any trouble but
their own labor; but what does Fort
keogh know Of his own knowledge of
. reported coal famine at Fort Benton,
$50 miles due north Of his station, ex-
cept in what he has seen in the way
OF sensational reports, similar to his
own nonsensical fabrications?
The correspondent says "all travel
stopped Well, now. the Miles City
4 Spearfish stage line, and other stage
lines from this point, have run quite
regularly all winter, and ~ TO trains,
II IL had not been for The heavy snow
fall In Minnesota and Dakota, We
would have had train every day, but
a. it was, thanks TO the efforts Of the
Northern Pacific railroad, we have not
been more than three days behind in
our mails at any one time this winter.
In some localities 1t (the snow 10
anywhere from ten TO fifty feet deep"
says Mr.. Fort Keogh. Supposing
that there wss . drift In some one iso-
lated locality, for instance in = cut in
the bad lands along the roadbed OF the
Northern Pacific <ailroad, is fifty feet
deep and the wind blowing, driving
the snow and nothing TO hinder Il
from drifting and filling up that cut.
| ask you, what IL the snow IL fifty
feet deep in that drift? That is no cri-
terion as TO the depth Of snow on the
level.
And here is this Fort Keogh CORES
pondent, paid liberal salary out Of
the taxes Of the people, writing some
very lHtlv) original slush, and copy
ing some from other penuy-a-liner
sensational correspondence, for little
picay uuish compensation as "s,Jecial
correspondent | am sorry 10 say
Respectable journals, rehash the ire
sponsib. e gushing of"Mr. Fort Keogh"
Ms gospel ruth, aud but this great
northwest more than they have any
idea OF.
Now IL Mr.. Keogh would employ his
time by studying his tactics, go
through q course " setting W. drill,
manual Of arms and all the other
things that pertain 10 his profession.
and which this stupeuduous govern
ment IL paying HIM q big salary for,
he would be better servant Of the
government and the people; but the
fact 10, he is soldering" VIE, aim
ing TO do a. little military service as
possible, draw his pay regularly and
make money on the outside ss sensa-
tionsl Especial correspondent
He Is here to-day by order Of the
Secretary Of War. in Arizona t0-mor-
row by the same authority. He does
not, perhaps, own either COW, horse,
dog or sheep; not foot of real estate
has this special correspondent invest
ed in, or he would not, as q man Of
common sense, decry the country he
10 interested In.
This special correspondent Is talking
about the inundstion OF the Missouri
river bottoms in the spring, and ven-
ture to say that he has never seen the
big Missouri, except from the windows
Of Pullman palace car on the Bis
marck railroad bridge, while Uncle
Sam vas paying him mileage.
He Is gushing" about all the dam
age the Missouri is q going 10 do to
Montana, Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska.
What city is Mr.. Fort Keogh alluding
10 when he says, 1.-The Indians who
make their home In the Missouri river
bottoms above this city are moving 10
the hills," well now his geography
seems to De ut fault, Fort Keogh 10 not
. city, and certainly not on the Mis-
souri,, but about 200 miles due south Of
II; he goes on to say that Ia 1881 the
overflow covered the lowlands for
thirty-nve days, why bosh l was on
the lowlands Of the Missouri in 1881,
and saw the worst features OF the over
flow, and the water did not stay on
the bottoms for more than two days
either In rear or In front Of Q gorge,
and where there was no gorge the
overflow was hardly perceptlole.
Not wishing TO encroach on your
space aDy further.